Bridge pulling away from guitar body - how bad is this?

[JackB1]

Just bough this Alvarez AD60 online and the guy at Guitar Center said there is space between the bridge and the guitar body and that I should return it. Do you agree? It looks pretty minor to me and I don't really want to send it back. It's new so its under warranty. Will Alvarez repair it or send me a new one? What do you all think?

[Rodger Knox]

I don't see a problem.

[Tony Done]

I can see what looks like a gap. I would test it with a feeler gauge, but my gut reaction is return it.

[mr. beaumont]

Use the corner of a single sheet of paper, see how far it goes in, and where.

Really hard to tell from the picture.

[JackB1]

Is this a bid deal or is it possible this won't be an issue for many years?
Reason I ask is Alvarez will repair (not replace) it and it will take a while to ship it to them and then for them to ship it back. Can I just have my local luthier add some glue in the cracks?

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by Rodger Knox

I don't see a problem.

The gaps are on the right side of the bridge. You can actually see the glue being stretched out if you zoom in.

[JackB1]

here is the spot where it's worst

[Tony Done]

I wouldn't be happy leaving it like that. If I was having it fixed locally, I would have it done properly - removed and reglued. It depends how you want to trade time against money.

[JackB1]

Originally Posted by Tony Done

I wouldn't be happy leaving it like that. If I was having it fixed locally, I would have it done properly - removed and reglued. It depends how you want to trade time against money.

Thanks Tony. I could see how someone could easily overlook something like that. The repair guy at guitar center showed me several places to always check when buying a guitar and he said the bridge is one of them. He said the should be ZERO space or clearance between the bridge and the body or it may eventually pull apart.

[1neeto]

It can be re glued without removing the bridge, but the correct way is to remove and re glue. But there’s risks to that too. If it’s a brand new guitar then just return it, I know it sucks to not have the guitar for days if not weeks, but that can only get worse.

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by JackB1

The gaps are on the right side of the bridge. You can actually see the glue being stretched out if you zoom in.

I did see that, but it doesn't look like a problem to me. It doesn't look big enough to get the corner of a piece of paper under the bridge. If you can't get a piece of paper 1/8" under the bridge, I'd say it's OK.

[LouieAtienza]

It is a very common practice for manufacturers and even independent builders, to "step" the outer perimeter of the bridge, since the finish representing the subsequent "boss" on the bottom of the bridge is routed away after the buffing process. This leaves a perfect finish around the bridge when it is glued down, but when the top does move and take an arch, this unglued area can be visible. As the others have said, I'd probably leave it alone for now, unless you actually see a significant rotation of the bridge forward as well.

[Theleman]

A couple of days ago, I got this tool called "filler gauge", and it has many blades of different thickness. I used it to check some of my acoustics bridge gaps, and seems working great. I used 0.13mm blade, and it goes into the gap if there is gap.

Quite a few of my acoustics have gaps, but it has been working like that for years without pulling the bridge. Gap doesn't mean it will soon lift the bridge, I feel.

And all or most of bridges will be lifted at one point of its life with the pressure, and they just need to be re-glued? I could be wrong. Just my 1 cent.

Having said that, none of my new guitars have any gaps under the bridge.

[charles Tauber]

The cost to have someone professionally remove and reglue the bridge will be around $100, depending upon where you live and what they charge. It is not an appropriate fix to squeeze glue in the gap.

Alvarez might cover it under warranty: they might not.

If you are not out the return shipping, I'd return it, given that it is a new guitar. The bridge might well stay just the way it is, or it might come off at some point: there is no way to accurately predict. On a new instrument, one shouldn't have to be concerned with that.

That's my opinion.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by Theleman

A couple of days ago, I got this tool called "filler gauge", ...

"feeler" gauge